Dr. Brogden joined the College of Dentistry in 2004. He is director of the Iowa Institute for Oral Health Research and a professor in the Department of Periodontics. From October-January 2015, Dr. Brogden was also interim associate dean for research.

2004-present. Professor in the Department of Periodontics and Iowa Institute for Oral Health, College of Dentistry, The University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA 52242.

2003-2004. Research Program Representative for the Ames Modernization Plan, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, National Animal Disease Center, Ames, IA 50010. The Ames Modernization Plan was a $466.7 million dollar construction project to build the National Centers for Animal Health in Ames.

1999-2004. Research Leader (Department Head), Respiratory Diseases of Livestock Research Unit, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, National Animal Disease Center, Ames, IA 50010. The RDLRU consisted of three projects created to solve bacterial diseases of the respiratory tract of poultry, swine, and cattle, and had a staff of 11 scientists, 14 technicians, 3 students, and 1 secretary.

2001-2001. National Program Leader for Animal Health, National Program Staff, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, George Washington Carver Center, 5601 Sunnyside Avenue, Beltsville, MD 20705. Served a 60-day detail from July 15 to September 15, 2001.

Dr. Brogden's research focuses on the ability of peptides in saliva (defensins, histatins, etc.) to serve as downstream suppressors of cytokine signaling to recombinant hemagglutinin B (HagB) from the periodontal pathogen Porphyromonas gingivalis. In his work, they have found that human β defensin 3 (HBD3) has the capacity to influence the chemokine and cytokine responses of human dendritic cells: the timing of HBD3 exposure and the concentration of HBD3 treaatment of dendritic cells were both important in the onset, magnitude, and composition of the dendritic cell response to HagB. The mechanism may involve binding of HBD3 to HagB: HBD3 binds to immobilized HagB via surface plasmon spectroscopy and via ELISA and HBD3 inhibits binding of rHagB via surface plasmon spectroscopy and via ELISA and HBD3 inhibits binding of rHagB to cells via confocal microscopy and immunoelectron microscopy. Future research will determine the extent to which defensins can suppress early events in inflammation, an exciting concept that could be exploited to develop therapeutics to prevent or treat a variety of oral mucosal infections, particularly where inflammation plays a role in the pathogenesis of disease and its long-term sequelae.

Phillips, M. and Brogden, K. A. Ultracentrifugation as a means for the separation and identification of lipopolysaccharides. In: Downstream Processing and Bioseparation. American Chemical Society Symposium Series 419:238-249. 1990.

The above paper was identified as a Fast Breaking Paper by Essential Science Indicators™ and as one of the most cited recent papers in the field of microbiology. Essential Science Indicators from Thomson Reuters lists highly cited papers in 22 broad fields of science. These papers comprise the top 1% of papers in each field and each year. Dr. Brogden was asked to provide comments on the paper, which in appeared in August 2006 on their website.

The above paper was also included in the joint Nature Biotechnology and Nature Reviews Drug Discovery FOCUS on antibacterials. To view it, go to this website.

Dr. Brogden is a member of the American Society for Microbiology, a Fellow in the American Academy of Microbiology, and a member of Phi Zeta and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. He is on the Board of Scientific Reviewers for the Annals of Agricultural and Environmental Medicine (1992-present) and was on the Board for Infection and Immunity (1998-2000).He has co-edited three books:Virulence Mechanisms of Bacterial Pathogens, second and third editions (ASM Press, Washington, D.C. (1995 and 2000) and Polymicrobial Diseases (ASM Press, Washington, D.C., 2002).